Turnabout Legacy
by DocumenteKaze232111
Summary: Immediately following the funeral of Klavier Gavin, an injured Franziska von Karma takes up the title of Los Angeles' Chief Prosecutor, all the while attempting to glue the pieces of her shattered family back together. Meanwhile, her foolish little brother chases after the darkness that just may be lurking closer than they think. Condemnations and Counterinsurgencies Part Two.


_Condemnations and Counterinsurgencies :_

Turnabout Legacy

**Chapter One : **_Storm Clouds Gathering_

_Los Angeles_

_von Karma Residence_

_October 29, 2037_

_1 : 09 a.m._

**Case Number -**11301928

**Status -** Open

**Victim - **Terri Denise (40)

**Cause of Death - **Strangulation

**Defendant -** Harrison Denise (56)

**Lead Prosecutor -** Drake Osborne (47)

**Defense Attorney - **Lance Greenhorne (24)

**Witnesses -** Dick Gumshoe (43), Jason Denise (19), Rinny Mamba (39)

**Case Summary**

_October 22, 3037 :_ Police and other emergency services are summoned to the Denise family household by Rinny Mamba after Terri Denise collapses unexpectedly.

_October 25, 3037 :_ At 2 : 36 p.m., General Hospital ICU nurse finds Terri Denise strangled to death in her hospital room. Police are called and an investigation is begun.

_October 26, 3037 : _After some complication, a security videotape is found by police incriminating Harrison Denise of his wife's murder. Police arrest Harrison Denise and search his home. More evidence is found at the Denise household (full list of evidence submitted to Court Records.)

_October 27, 3037 _: State appoints Lance Greenhorne as Harrison Denise's Defense Attorney after Defendant refuses to claim his right to an attorney. Drake Osborne is appointed Lead Prosecutor by Attorney General Cecil Darnell. October 28, 3037 : Court date is to begin on October 29, 3037 in Los Angeles Superior Courtroom number 09, to begin at 10 : 00 a.m..

Franziska von Karma growled audibly in frustration and placed the Denise case file aside for what felt like the thousandth time that very early morning. Rubbing her tired eyes, she pushed herself to her feet and slowly made her way to the window of her home office, carefully minding the very sensitive and wound underneath the tight, layered bandages that had all but been glued to her entire torso.

Even after an entire month spent inside a dreary room inside the walls of the Los Angeles General Hospital, resting and doing next to nothing in lieu of recuperation, her injury, which had been given to her by the late Tom Judas during the initial hunt for her late brother-in-law and his kidnappers, had still not even begun to heal. Even the doctors, the best in their respective positions, had not been able to completely close the wound.

"The bullet simply went in too far, Miss von Karma. It is stuck within a small crevasse just between your right lung and your right fourth rib, and if not for how the bullet entered your body, we wouldn't be speaking about this at all. However, because the bullet entered you how it did, caused the damage to you that it did, and stopped where within you that it did, we cannot remove the bullet, which would speed up the healing process by at least several months, or do anything other than stitch up the external injury, wrap it up as tightly as possible, check very often for infection, give you a prescription for the pain, and hope that through hell and high waters the bullet does not move from where it is."

The pain had been very manageable for her, up until the point that they had begun to place the anti-infection medicine directly into her wound. At least a million fold worse than rubbing alcohol on a fresh, open wound, Franziska had been comatose for the first several days before becoming used to the constant fiery, stabbing pain. Now, she felt that horrible pain only when she foolishly refused to take the medicine (which had, in fact, happened only twice, Franziska was foolishly proud of reminding herself), during the first few hours of the weekly visit to the hospital to receive the treatment, or- according to the doctors and one very serious younger brother- during one of her migraines, which were both worse and better than the pain of her sluggishly healing bullet wound; better because the migraine cancelled out all physical pain, and worse because of the hallucinations, nightmares, and all-consuming, absolute numbness they brought her for hours after the migraine had ended.

The migraines, caused by the very medicine keeping her open injury from both bleeding her out and keeping it from infection, occurred once or twice every month since the moment the treatments started. Neither she nor the doctors had foreseen this reaction to the medicine, and so, naturally, the first migraine had been a spectacular event in its own right.

It had begun, as most migraines do, as a normal headache (which Franziska had actually mistaken for one induced out of dehydration) during a very normal day for her. When the migraine began in earnest, she had been attending a High Prosecutors' meeting- her first since her official discharge from the hospital, in fact.

An hour or two into the meeting, suddenly, for a moment, for a single blissful moment, the headache disappeared altogether.

And then her head split open. Metaphorically, of course. But it certainly felt like it had.

The pain had been excruciating, but it was, unfortunately, the least of her worries. The world- the lights in the very well-lit room especially- had suddenly became much, much brighter, and, as the conversations in the room buzzed away, her mind lurched, sputtered, and finally fled, towing her thoughts with it. For all she knew, hours could have passed before her body- which had fallen out of her control the moment the pain had found her- gave away the state of her mind, and, of course, it had to be that foolishly foolish little brother of hers, Miles Edgeworth, to be the first to notice...

"Franziska?"

Franziska started, the sudden, unexpected voice prompting her to quickly turn herself around to berate her visitor for coming inside her private rooms unannounced- forgetting, unfortunately, that quick, sudden movements nowadays brought an immediate bite of fiery pain into her chest. She tumbled over with a gasp, but was caught by a pair of pale, but strong arms before she fell.

"Franziska..."

Franziska straightened slowly, feeling crimson-faced from both embarrassment and pain, entirely unsurprised to find herself looking into the half-concerned, half-amused stormy-grey eyes of Miles Edgeworth.

"You need to be more careful, Franziska," He chided her, gently steering her to her seat and encouraging her to sit, which she did almost gratefully, "You could have hurt yourself even further than you already are."

Franziska knew that he was right, but skated over the topic to a much less painful one. "What are you doing here, Miles Edgeworth?"

"I came to see my big sister, obviously."

Irritation instantly flared. "I do not need a babysitter, you foolishly foolish fool!"

"No," Miles replied easily, with a still slightly concerned smile, surprising Franziska with the sincerity in his eyes, "You don't. I know you can look after yourself, but this is for my peace of mind and the peace of mind of the rest of the family, as much as it is for your sake. They are worried for you, Franziska."

Franziska sighed heavily. "I can manage just fine on my own- I have for years," When Miles frowned, she simply shook her head and spoke again. "I take it that nothing has changed?"

"Nothing too substantial," He confirmed, with a sigh of his own, "Lana has decided to join Ema on her sabbatical from work, but we all knew that it was only a matter of time. I believe they will be taking Zane and Alice and going abroad, to Europe. Meanwhile, Maggy is set to announce her pregnancy at the Halloween Banquet. There is, however, one piece of information I think you'll find very interesting."

Franziska rose her eyebrow. "Another foolishly foolish social event, Miles Edgeworth?"

Miles smirked in amusement, but shook his head in a manner that said this particular piece of information was anything but trivial. "The minister that presided over the funeral, Zane Ian Brückner, and his wife, Janet Brückner, have gone missing from their home in Berlin, Germany."

Franziska felt a sudden, cold shiver run down her spine. "What happened?"

"Zane Ian Brückner was sorely missed at the Berlin Academy, a small private school, where he taught English. After missing the first several days of the fall term, beginning August 1st, the Headmaster and family friend, one Clemanceau Xavier, called at his home and found the door wide open and the house looking as though it had not been lived in for months. He immediately phoned the police, and they determined no violence whatsoever had occurred at the home. However, several hundreds of thousands of Euros disappeared from their numerous European accounts many weeks earlier, on June 5nd of this year. Where the funds went to is untraceable, even with Interpol working on the case."

"It had to be robbery," Franziska breathed, stunned and visibly disturbed by the news. "This occurred only four days after the funeral, and the only way to liquify every single account without a way to trace where the funds went is to do so illegally, from a non-member country of the trans-continental banking system... Do you think- ?"

"Yes, I do. It was her, I am absolutely sure of it," Miles interrupted her, his eyes becoming stormy once again, "I do not know how she managed it, but it had to be her."

"She would no longer be in the United States, in that case," She surmised with a sigh, "And a venture outside of this country, for any member of our family, would be very foolish. Warn Lana and Ema, won't you?"

"I will today."

With a nod of understanding, Franziska moved to take up the Denise case file yet again, but was stopped by Miles, who swiped the file before she could take it. "Oh, no you don't," He tilt her with a mischievous smile, chuckling at her startled expression, "Miss von Karma, it is very much past the time to work. Whatever this is, it can wait until you have slept."

Franziska narrowed her eyes, but Miles remained firm, "You need to rest, Franziska. I know it is difficult for you, but forcing yourself to stay awake is not the answer."

"I am not forcing myself to do anything, Miles Edgeworth," Franziska snapped back immediately, irritation beginning to creep back into her voice, "And I know that I need to sleep. I had planned to be asleep four hours ago, but... It is simply that case." She gestured toward the file Miles had taken from her. "I cannot stop thinking about it."

Miles rose his eyebrow, both in confusion and surprise, before opening the file to take a look at the file himself. After a few moments of scanning, he looked back to Franziska, his expression very strange. "It seems a trivial case of spousal about it interests you?"

"I don't know, and that is exactly what is keeping me awake!" Franziska replied in exasperation, startling Miles with the inordinate amount of emotion saturating her voice, "I have spoken to the Lead Prosecutor several times, but as far as he is concerned, the case is open and shut- simple. I can't explain it- I feel something. I feel as though... As though there is something that has been overlooked, something important..."

Her younger brother chuckled suddenly, then offered her the file again. "Franziska, you can be so silly sometimes."

Franziska immediately bristled, insulted, but before she could speak, Miles continued , a wry, knowing smile beginning to surface on his expression, "If the case interests you so much, as Chief Prosecutor, you can always take it for yourself."

:: • :: | :: • ::

_Los Angeles_

_Prosecutor's Lounge, LA Superior Courtroom 09_

_October 29, 2037_

_9 : 51 a.m._

**"Chief Prosecutor von Karma, what is the meaning of this?"**

_"I simply wish to oversee this case myself, Mr. Osborne. I have another, the Ford case, that I ask you to take in its stead; it is a rather complicated financial dispute. It was to be my responsibility, but I believe these types case are your specialty and personal favorite?"_

**"The Ford case! I've wanted... But, are you positive-?"**

_"Of course I am, you foolishly foolish fool! Now, your notes and evidence for the Denise case? I expect that you have them with you?"_

**"Y-yes, Chief Prosecutor, of course! I'll bring them to you right away..."**

Drake Osborne scurried off.

Franziska von Karma had managed to sleep for several hours once her foolish little brother explained the finer mechanics and details of her fairly new position. Why he had just not explained such important things to her that night during that conversation, just a month ago, the night before they announced to the world her succession as Chief Prosecutor...

_"Miles Edgeworth, just why, exactly, am I taking your place? I daresay, as much as a foolishly foolish fool as you are, you have managed to do satisfactory work thus far in your career."_

_**"I have explained this already, Franziska. Darnell is out for my blood. It would be better for all involved if I stepped aside, at least for now."**_

_"You have never stepped aside for anyone before! Why begin now- unless, of course, once installing me in your place, securing an extremely valuable information line within local law enforcement- you plan to do something illicit in nature?"_

_**"Please. You have known me far too long to even suspect that I would go that far."**_

_"You are beginning to sound like that insufferably foolishly foolish fool Phoenix Wright. What is it that the two of you are planning? Something, perhaps, to do with the missing suspect in Klavier Gavin's murder?"_

_**"...Franziska- "**_

_"Spare me your foolish excuses. Do what you must, Miles Edgeworth, I will do as you have asked , remember this; you have experienced firsthand what exactly comes of revenge. Let those experiences, not your personal emotions, guide how you go about hunting and how you go about gutting your prey."_

As soon as she realized what her little brother was planning to do, Franziska had become worried- almost ridiculously so. Her brother did indeed know firsthand what revenge could do to a person, but would that stop him from leading the search for an extremely dangerous and deadly murderer? Her brother did know that, by doing what he was doing, he was painting a bright red target on his back? Her brother did know what ramifications, what consequences, could be rendered from his decision to seek vengeance?

Franziska knew the single answer to each of her questions. What she did not know was the answer to the last and most important question- whether or not Miles cared.

"Chief Prosecutor von Karma?" Drake Osborne was back, and with him, he brought a slim, black folder which carried the needed information for the case. He handed it to her, gave a word of thanks, and then motioned toward the exit. "I don't know why you are so interested in this case, Chief. I mean, it's just an open-and-shut case of murder."

Franziska, who had been leafing through Osborne's notes with avid interest, closed the folder with an intentionally loud snap of paper. Taking this as a very clear signal to leave, the other Prosecutor moved quickly toward the exit and disappeared, leaving his boss alone in the lounge.

She watched after him for just a moment, then toward the door that lead to the courtroom, smiling a grim smile.

"We will see."

**:: • :: | :: • ::**

_Los Angeles_

_LA District Courtroom 009_

_October 29, 2037_

_10 : 00 a.m._

Miles Edgeworth had left Franziska von Karma's apartment earlier that morning in a daze of wonder. Although he had almost scoffed at her interest in what seemed the trivial Denise spousal murder case, her extremely uncharacteristic passion for it had reminded him of none other than himself during a case not long after he had become a Prosecutor.

**"...Said... Take bottle if... Couldn't trust anymore..."**

_"N-no! Stop the trial! Your Honor, we need a recess!"_

**"Was stupid... Couldn't keep... Promise..."**

That particular trial had ended with no winners- there were only losers. The victim had received no justice, the only man in the world who had known the whole truth had killed himself, the culprit responsible for both had gotten away, the Defense Attorney disappeared from law only to return and fall victim to a brutal murder herself shortly after, and Miles... Well, he had never been quite the same since the whole ordeal came to its bitter conclusion in another trial, years ago.

It was with these thoughts and memories that he sat himself down with the audience that had gathered inside District Courtroom 009. If he was at least being honest with himself, he knew there were other, much more important things he should be doing with his time, but the fact of the matter was that he knew, somewhere deep within him, that something was amiss.

The simple fact was that something had triggered Franziska's interest; unconsciously, her mind had found some connection everyone else had missed- and now she was almost obsessed with figuring out exactly what it was that was causing her to go forward despite not having a clue of the darkness that lay ahead.

Just like he himself had, back then, during that case.

If someone had told him, the first day he had met the young Franziska von Karma what felt like hundreds of years ago, that she would become who she was today, and that he would quickly come to view that little girl as the truest, purest form of family he had in this world, a very young Edgeworth would have laughed in their face and called them crazier than the little girl herself.

Now, though... Now, a much older Miles found himself making an unconscious decision of his own- he would become like her shadow and follow Franziska to the ends of the earth, and assist her however he could... And he would also catch her, if ever the need be.

**:: • :: | :: • ::**


End file.
